THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENT - FROM CONTROL-SYSTEM TO WORKING MODELS

AFTER two decades of theoretical and descriptive work, we know a great deal about the developmental course of early attachment relationships . We know considerably less about the mechanisms underlying consistenc y and change. Indeed, the most pressing issue in attachment theory is to explain well-replicated correlations between early care and subsequ ent patterns of secure base behavior, and between secure base behavior in infancy and subsequent behavior with parents and siblings, social competence, self-esteem, and behavior problems. As a step in this dire ction, we examine Bowlby's developmental outline, with an eye toward p roviding greater detail and incorporating traditional learning mechani sms into Bowlby's attachment theory.